Search

The third app in my Money App review series is Academy Coins by Wesley Dyson. The app has currencies for Canada, Australia, United States, United Kingdom and the Euro. Unfortunately the app is limited to coins so children don’t get to work with notes.

Activities

Academy Coins has activities that range from very basic coin recognition to the more advanced addition with currency. The levels are unlocked as children progress through the levels, although you can unlock all levels via an in-App purchase for $1.29

What are Coins? Cheat Sheet – Identifying coins. The “tails” side of each coin appears with the amount written in words, in different currency forms (e.g. as dollars and as cents) and there is a description of the images on the coin. (I love that Canadians Have Loonies and Toonies. We have plenty of Loonies in Australia, but unfortunately you’ll find them running the country rather than in your wallet.)

Dollars or Cents? – A coin is displayed along with a numerical value, and you need to select whether the amount is shown in dollars or in cents. 5c may be displayed as 0.05 or as 5, and children will need to select the appropriate symbol. Although the title of the activity doesn’t change, the currency symbols change for the Euro and the Pound.

Matching with Numbers– Match the coin to it’s numerical value by dragging it into the appropriate slot.

Matching with Words – This is identical to Matching with Numbers, except the values are shown as words.

How Much Money? – There are three levels to this activity, each getting progressively more difficult. Level one begins with coins with lower value coins (less than a dollar) and larger value coins and amounts are added in levels 2 and 3.

Making Change Subtraction – Show a given amount as coins. I can’t really see where the subtraction is in this activity. I would have imagined an activity in this category to be more of a shopping style activity, e.g. buy an item for $1.75, pay with a $2 coin and select the correct change. Instead, this activity is really an addition activity, and I like that children can use any combination of coins to make the correct amount. There are two levels of difficulty.

Sum it Up– This is a addition with regrouping using currency symbols. Level 1 uses the cents symbol (or pence) and Level 2 uses the dollar/Euro/Pound symbol. Some children may need a paper and pencil handy to work things out.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Other Features

You can drag coins around the screen, which can help when adding or by sorting into value.

Reporting is very basic and gives you a percentage figure for each activity and level. (I had to turn notifications off on my iPad; it tends to nag you if you haven’t used the app for a while.)

The one app has 5 different currencies. While you’ll probably only use one, it is fascinating for children to see the similarities and differences between the different international coins. This is one of the few apps I own that has currency for the United Kingdom. The images of the coins are excellent quality.

Parent controls are protected by a password and allow you to turn off In-App purchases and sharing features, and reset progress reports.

Wish List

Feedback needs to be more supportive. It would be great for children to have a clue as to why they have made errors, e.g. “that is too much” or “that is not enough money.”

Faster progression through questions – The app is a little slow to progress through questions as each successful answer results in fanfare and fireworks (or other visual display) and then a prompt to go on to the next question. My boys found it a bit frustrating, even with the positive affirmations. They actually found it faster to answer the question correctly, leave the activity and reenter it.

All levels should be able to unlock without the in-App purchase. If teachers are to use this app in a classroom, they really need to know what the activities are like in advance. At $3.75 Aus, I believe you’ve already paid enough.

I know the name is Academy Coins, but it isn’t really comprehensive without the notes.

Individual Profiles – for use in schools or families with more than one child, individual profiles are an advantage.

The Tutorial should be more comprehensive with information about each of the activities in the app, particularly if these are locked. Currently it lets you choose your currency and has a single image telly you that you can collect stars, and you can tap to play. There is nothing about the different activities or their aims, how many questions you need to answer to progress, and what the progress reports mean.

Verdict

Academy Coins could be a useful app for basic money skills of coin recognition, recognising amounts in words or numbers, currency symbols, showing coins in different ways, and adding coins. Unfortunately it lacks activities for giving change, and there are no notes in the app. At $3.79 Aus, it isn’t as good value as iCan Count Money (cheaper) or the STAAPS Money apps (same price) that are more comprehensive in both activities and in the use of both notes and coins. If more features are added to future updates, I’ll happily look at this app again because it has great potential.

Like this:

Yesterday I reviewed three Duckie Deck creativity apps. Today I’m having a look at two more of their apps, each with six different play activities. Both games are aimed at the early childhood age group, but could be suitable for older children with special needs. Look for more reviews in the coming days.

Duckie Deck Collection

Features: There are 6 activities in Duckie Deck Collection:

Food -Pick fruits or vegetables then tap on the items to eat them. There are many different fruits and vegetables, so children can play for some time without a repeat of the same food. This is a fun way to introduce some healthy food options. You could have fun counting aloud as the food is picked or eaten.

Feed the Animals – Feed animals with a choice of three food options, only one of which the animal wants. If you present the animal with the wrong food it will shake its head. Feed it the correct food and it chews nicely and smiles. Along with the animals there is also a flower and the Zoo Keeper to feed.

Lightbulb game – This is a peekaboo game where children see a silhouette then tap on the light to reveal a friendly animated monster. Tap on the light again to repeat the game with a different monster.

Magic Hat – Tap on the magic hat to reveal a funny animated character or item.

Mix Up – this is a version of those fun games where you change heads, bodies and legs to make an animal match (or mismatch.) Mr 3 enjoys making crazy animals and doesn’t always want to match up the correct body parts, but if you manage to align 3 matching body parts, the game quickly randomises them again.

Clean up – Children drag cleaning items around the screen to mop, sweep, or vacuum the floor to remove grime and mess. This activity doesn’t have as much variety as the others and Mr 3 kept accidentally tapping the Back button as he moved around the screen.

You can see the app in action in the YouTube trailer below:

What we Love – there is lots of variety and little repetition in the activities, so children can play for a long time before they get “bored.” The app is very easy and intuitive to navigate, and Mr 3 needed no help to get around.

Verdict – There is a lot of variety in most of the activities. I particularly like Food and Feed the Animals, and I think these could be a great way to introduce some concepts of health and natural science. The games are great for a single child to play but are even better when you play with a friend or adult. In fact, your child will get a lot more out of these activities if they play with you and get to explore the concepts and language associated with them more deeply.

Duckie Deck Sharing

Features: There are 6 different activities in this app. These include:

Toy Joy (Rocket ship) – you and three friends each have a different toy to play with, including a rocket, xylophone, drawing tool and an animal noise toy. Play with your toy then tap another child’s toy to swap. As they swap with you, each child makes a sound that would translate to “yes, okay!”

Win Win – A simple memory game that can be played one or more children. There are 12 cards in each game, and there are several themes to keep things interesting. Great for turn taking.

Pie in the sky(Birthday cake) – Take turns to decorate a cake then share it between 3.

Gimme Gimmie (Doughnut) – Three friends are sitting on a couch and there are three items you can give to each. Each child has a thought bubble with two items they would like. Try to give each child one of their preferences. This activity has some logical thinking skills involved.

Food (apple) – Four children sit at a table with empty plates. A random piece of food appears and is quartered. You have to give each child a piece. You can put more than one piece on a single plate, but the child that misses out will be sad. Once everyone has an equal share, the children cheer, eat their food, and a new item appears.

Scribble Dribble (Pencils)- Guided picture drawing where children choose from a selection of items and are guided through the drawing process with dotted lines, then colour the picture. You don’t need to be too accurate when tracing the lines. Mr 3 discovered that a simple swipe just touching a line is enough to complete a section, so children with fine motor issues might find this easier to do than other similar activities/apps.

The slideshow below shows some of the activities.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What we Love: Although all the activities can be played by a single child, they are well set up for collaborative efforts between children. Some of the activities, for example Toy Joy or Gimmie Gimmie, could be used to explore social skill issues of sharing and preferences. The parent information section has valuable information about how these activities can be used to help children learn about sharing. There are some interactive environmental elements in some of the scenes that add a bit more fun to the activities.Verdict: This is a beautiful app and the six activities have been well-planned with their objectives in mind. There is a lot of variety so children don’t get tired of the same old thing. Again, these activities can be used by a child on their own, but they will gain much more from the experience by sharing with an adult or other child/ren.

Universal – requires iOS 5.0 or higherPrice: $3.79
This app is also available as part of the Ultimate Playtime Bundle (10 Duckie Deck apps for $16.99)

Like this:

Duckie Deck has a range of entertaining educational apps for children aged 2-5. I’ve owned most of them for a while and have put them through their paces with my children, and I’ve been meaning to write about them for at least a year. Initially I was going to review the lot in one hit, but I’m going to break it into several posts over a few days. Today I’m starting with some of their creativity apps, including their latest app, Duckie Deck Bird Houses. Look for reviews of other of their apps in coming days.

Duckie Deck Bird Houses

Features: Create the bird house of your dreams. Select a tree to build on, choose from a variety of house styles and materials, then decorate with paint and accessories before your little birdie moves in.

What we Love: The variety of design options means that children can create a different house every time. The graphics are delightful, with lots of different colours and textures and a real textured “collage” feel. There are some quirky accessories to add to the house that add opportunities for discussion and story making.

Verdict: The app is really easy to use, with lots of variety and fun little quirks that will make Duckie Deck Bird Houses very popular with young children.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Universal – Requires iOS 5.0 or higherPrice: $2.49

Duckie Deck Trash Toys

Features: Children make toys out of virtual recyclables, such as containers, bags, CDs and more. Choose an item, paint it, then add more recyclables to create facial features and body parts.What we Love: Unlike similar apps where two fingers are used to change orientation of an object or to resize, Duckie Deck Trash Toys uses one finger only. Tap and hold in the middle of an item to move it, then tap on an edge and drag to rotate. This is so much easier for Mr 3 to handle than similar apps. There are no resizing options, but this didn’t seem to worry Mr 3.Verdict: This is a great creativity app for young children who haven’t mastered the art of multi-touch commands. I can think of at least one similar app with a few more bells and whistles, but that one is a little more sophisticated and is better suited to slightly older children. Duckie Deck Trash Toys certainly nails the needs of the very young user and might also be fun for older children with special needs. Images of your creations can be saved and used in other apps (such as story making apps) or printed. Sometimes playing with this app might lead to some real-life creativity with the contents of your household recycle bin.

Duckie Deck Sandwich Chef

Features: Children pick a novelty sandwich (from ten options) then recreate the sandwich step by step. These are no ordinary sandwiches: children might create a clock, whale, boat, or clown sandwich, to name a few. They spread the butter on the bread then create the sandwich using healthy foods.

Lots of sandwich designs to choose from

What we Love: Each ingredient is presented as it is required, and targets appear on the sandwich to guide the child to correct placement. This is great for very young children as it helps to avoid confusion. Children don’t have to be super-accurate with placement either, as the items “snap” into place when they are near the target.Verdict. The young children I’ve shown Duckie Deck Trash Toys to all love it. Mr 3 would be a little happier if there was a train option (although there is a clock and a car, so he is happy). We think it might be fun to have a free-play option where you get to design your own sandwich, but that might be better in a separate app, perhaps in a similar format to Duckie Deck Trash Toys. It is great that kids get to see all the different healthy food options, but we’d love to hear some of the names spoken aloud. Still, I see that as my job as I supervise Mr 3 as he plays. Not having any speech means that the app is suitable for all languages.

Like this:

appp media have just released a new Mathematics app for multiplication and division, and I was fortunate to be given a copy to review. The full name of the app is Understanding Math – Times Tables: Learn to fluently multiply and divide within 100, but that is a bit of a mouthful so I’m sure you won’t mind if I abbreviate it to Understanding Math – Times Tables for this review.

I have literally hundreds of Mathematic apps, and most of the multiplication and division apps are drill and practice, which is great for developing speed and accuracy, but Understanding Math: Times Tables offers something new. The drill and practice element is there, but it is the understanding part that is a new and welcome feature. The activities in Understanding Math – Times Tables are based on Jerome Bruner’s Three Modes of Representation learning theory and they explore the concepts of division and multiplication using different visual representations.

Like this:

Tiny Robot Maker by Australian developers, Tiny Twiga Studios, is a simple app packed with a lot of creative fun. Children choose from different options to create robots, and then can use these robots to create printable colour-ins, cards and invitations. The app is aimed at a young audience, but older children can have fun with their younger siblings, as my children did, and the app might also be suitable for older children with special needs.

Like this:

Sassy Cassie, written and illustrated by Nancy PLA Schneider, is two stories for the price of one. Cassie is an imaginative and creative little girl who loves to colour her world. Despite having all the toys a child could wish, Cassie favourite toy is her mother’s makeup. Cassie loves to use her and her friends’ faces as a canvas. (I’m sure I’m not the only mother who can relate to this scenario!) Her increasingly exasperated mother manages to extract a series of promises from Cassie about not using her makeup, although it seems Cassie is an expert in finding loopholes in promises and rules, not unlike a child dear to my own heart. Katie eventually manages to find another interesting way to express herself creatively.

At the end of the story, Sassy Cassie receives her very own art equipment in Color Mixing with Cassie. She experiments with blending primary colours to make secondary colours, and plays with black and white to make shades and tints in her search for the perfect pink. While I’ve seen apps that explore primary and secondary colours, I’ve never seen one that looks at shades and tints. It would be useful to read this part of the story before art activities, and then have children see which colours they can make.
But wait: there’s more! In addition to a great story and an art lesson, the Color Fun Quiz section rounds off the app with a series of comprehension questions. The question is written and narrated. Tapping the Answer button will reveal the answer.

Features

Easy navigation – swipe pages to move through the story. You can also swipe backwards to hear a page’s narration again.

Audio can be turned off

Text is highlighted as spoken. This feature is supportive of emergent readers who are reading along with the narration. This feature is only available in the main part of the story, but not available in the Color Mixing or Quiz sections.

Beautiful illustrations by PLA Schneider

Clear and expressive narration by Sylvie Ashford

Art lesson about mixing colours. Cassie narrates as she experiments with colours, mixing primary colours, white and black to make secondary colours, tints and shades.

Quiz section

Wish list

It would be useful for children to hear words spoken aloud as they are tapped. I’d also love to see the highlighting of words as they are spoken extended to the second part of the story. Children with a hearing impairment, or those reading the story in noisy environments, may have difficulty hearing the answers in the Fun Color Quiz, so it would be great to see the answers also available in text and/or illustration.

Verdict

Sassy Cassie is a delightful app that gives you a funny story as well as a lesson in art. Children will be amused by Cassie’s antics and inspired by her creativity. Parents will be amazed by how Cassie’s mother manages to keep her composure when facing “trying” times with her precocious daughter. An enjoyable and educational reading experience for all.

Like this:

I couldn’t resist using some alliteration in the heading for today’s post. Susan Syddall is an Australian author and illustrator who also has a website, Stories and Children, which is full of great educational ideas and resources and more information about her apps. Today I am reviewing the seven story apps Susan has published to date. Most have been supplied by Susan, but I acquired one of them while it was on sale recently.

A page from Hog and Frog by Susan Syddall

Features

The following features are common to the apps.

Beautiful illustrations

Two reading modes – Read to Me or I’ll Read.

The narration is expressive with an Australian accent. Most of the story apps I own have either an American or British accent, so it is a delight to hear a story in my accent, particularly one so well narrated. I don’t believe the accent would present difficulties for other countries, particularly now we have such global exposure to such a variety of accents.

How to section – explains the different features of the app.

Text presented in different ways – in addition to the standard text, you’ll see speech and thought bubbles, environmental text (labels, signs, books etc), and words presented in different graphic formats.

Subtle interactive elements – there are no animations, but some pages have interactive areas that will produce sounds. These pages are marked with an asterisk.

Extension activities – these differ for each book but include activities such as mazes, word finds, comprehension activities, spot the difference, counting, vocabulary and more. There are at least 5 extra activities for each book and these can be printed and/or completed in app.

An introduction to each story – this is a feature you don’t often find in story apps, and it helps cue the child into the language and concepts explored in the story. In some cases,these introductions give background knowledge the child may not already have (see Lyrebird Park for a good example.)

Those are features common to each story app. Below are my notes on each book in the series. I’ve included some first impressions on some of the learning opportunities for each book, but if you dive into the supportive materials included with each app, you will find many more ideas.

The Stories

All of the stories are Universal, are published by Susan Syddall, and are priced at $2.99 each.

Hog and Frog– Hog tries to turn into a frog by changing his appearance and behaviour, until he hits the final hurdle. I’m not going to give away the plot, but this story had my 5 and 7 y.o. sons in stitches. There is much use of the “og” sound (and the short “o” sound), opportunities for children to guess how the hog will solve each problem, and of course you can explore the characteristics of frogs.

There’s Something in the Bush, Mathilda – Mathilda explores the Australian bush and finds different animals hiding in their different homes. There is a great rhythm to the story, and the pattern lends itself to word prediction activities. Each animal has its own action, providing a great opportunity to look at verbs and perhaps act them out. Other concepts in the story include counting to ten and different animal habitats.

Grover Bill and the Geckos – Poor Grover Bill has a very bland, gray life until some cheeky geckos go to town in his house with coloured paint. The big concern in this house was how Grover Bill would react when he woke up and saw what the geckos had done (memories of Changing Rooms). Again, there is a great rhyme and rhythm to the story, making it great to read aloud and very helpful for beginner readers. I love the way verbs are highlighted on each page. Master 5 decided to act out some of the verbs, but unfortunately I didn’t get it on video!

Scaredy Cat – This is a funny tale of a mouse waging psychological warfare on a cat, who is very hungry. There. You have to get it now! There is rhyme, repetition, and lots of highlighted adjectives enriching the text. My 8 y.o. is being encouraged to write “juicy” sentences for his homework, and I’ve used these highlighted words to show him how he can do that with adjectives and adverbs. Incidentally, there are clocks featured in illustrations throughout the story to emphasise the time the cat is going without food. The clocks are not specifically mentioned in the story, but there are opportunities to look at the time in hours, and count the hours that pass. As you tap on the clocks, you can count the chimes then hear the time spoken aloud.

Lyrebird Park – Most Australians will be familiar with the lyrebird that graces our 10 cent coin, but others may not know about this fabulous mimic. The introduction to this book is slightly more detailed than the others so that children receive some background knowledge about this amazing Australian bird. (Non-believers should try searching the Internet for some recordings of the lyrebird, which are amazing and hilarious at the same time.) The story is quite funny, with the lyrebird playing tricks on a family to make them leave his park. Again, there are some fabulous adjectives and adverbs highlighted in the text. In addition to the story told in the text, a second story takes place in the illustrations, with the baby wise to the tricks that the adults are falling for. You might want to try retelling the story from the baby’s point of view, and you can also explore birds that can talk (the sulphur-crested cockatoo is introduced at the end of the book) and animal sounds.

Farmer Blake and Sneaky Snake – The chickens team up to help stop sneaky snake from stealing Farmer Blake’s eggs in this amusing story. I love how the direct speech is highlighted in the text, and there is some great use of alliteration ( e.g. Snake slid silently in). My children came up with a couple of other ideas the Farmer could have tried.

It’s a bad day to be a Fly! – There is a subtle reference to that great Aussie character, Louie the Fly, in the latest book in the series. (For my non-Aussie readers, Louie is a character who has starred in fly spray advertisements since the 1950s. I can still sing the jingle created by the late, legendary Bryce Courtney when he worked in advertising in the 60s.) Louie is a trainee fly and is learning how to harass Mr Sty. There are concepts of rhyme and direct speech, and the text is presented in lots of visually interesting ways to support the story, for example on one page it swirls around as Louie buzzes around the house. My children didn’t understand the picture of Louie wearing a gas mask, but were able to understand after a small discussion. (They also now understand why I don’t like to use chemical sprays.)

Wish List

There is a lot right with these apps already, but there are always a couple of things I’d like to see in story apps that are not yet present in these apps.

Highlighting words – it would be great if words could be highlighted as they are narrated to give that extra support for children attempting to read along.

Repeat text – an option to repeat text would be useful for children who miss part of the narration for reasons such as interruptions, environmental noise, or comprehension.

Individually spoken words – being able to hear words spoken as they are tapped, in either reading mode, would be supportive of students who are starting to read independently but who struggle with the odd word. It also allows you to “play” with the text on the page, for example highlighting words from your sight list, or those with a particular phonic element.

Verdict

Some stories are meant for reading pleasure, and others are meant for learning to read. Susan Syddall’s stories fall into both categories for me. They are entertaining and engaging, but also have lots of supportive elements that will make them a welcome addition to both home and school libraries, being particularly suited to emergent readers in Prep – Year 2. They are also age-appropriate for older children with special needs, and I can see these stories being popular with home schoolers too. Finally, it is nice to see some Australian content in story apps. I hope more are in the pipeline, as I’m keen to buy some more for the early readers in this house.

Like this:

Happi Reads and Happi Spells are two fun literacy Apps from Happi Papi. Although I have the English versions, international versions are available in alternative languages, depending on which country’s iTunes store they are purchased (more information below.)

Happi Reads

Happi Reads is a variation of a flash card activity where children read a word and then match it to one of three pictures. Children are clapped and cheered, and receive a fruit token for correctly identifying each word. Once six tokens have been collected, the game ends with children tapping a large picture if the fruit to “eat it.” The feedback for incorrect answers is an “uh-uh” noise. Children don’t get a second attempt at the same word, but they move on to a different word without a penalty. The logic behind this is that the designers thought that, if kids were to get a second chance at the same word and picture set, they would start guessing instead of really making an effort to read the word. Continue reading →

Paint My Wings by Toca Boca is a Painting and Creativity App where children paint the wings of butterflies in symmetrical patterns. At first, there might not seem to be a lot to this app, but when you look closer you’ll see that, as well as being a fun painting activity, Paint My Wingscan also help children develop the early Mathematical and Scientific concepts of patterns and symmetry.

Happi 123 – a Maths game for Kids by Happi Papi is an App designed to help children learn the basic Mathematical concepts of counting, addition, subtraction, number sequence and number patterns. I say learn rather than practice, as this App has some supportive features that can help a child learn about the concepts (as opposed to a drill and practice App that can help with speed and recall after a concept has already been learned.) Continue reading →